Measures of Central

Tendency
 Group Members

• Asif Mehmood
• Muhammad Khan
• Hasan Malik
• Ashir Ali Zaib
 Table Of
Contents

• Mean
• Median
• Mode
• Midrange
• Appropriate Selection of Average
• Daily life application
• Misuse of Averages
• Variance
• Standard Deviation
 Measures of Central
Tendency

 a single value that represents a data

set.
 Its purpose is to locate the center of a
data set.

 commonly referred to as an average.

 Properties of
Mean

 A set of data has only one mean

 All values in the data set are included

 Very useful in comparing two or more data sets

 Affected by the extreme small or large values on

a data set
 Mean
 The only common measure in which all
values plays an equal role meaning to
determine its values you would need to
consider all the values of any given data
set.

Sum of all values

Mean
Number of values

X
 X
n
 Mean
Arithmetic mean is the most commonly used
average.

For example,
the mean of the data set {0, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4} = 2.
If the datum ‘4’ is changed to ‘40’ (i.e. {0, 1, 2, 2, 3, 40}),
then the mean = 8, which is larger than the other 5 data,
so the mean is not a good average to reflect the central
tendency of the data in this case.
 Properties of
Median

 It is unique, there is only one median for a set of

data

 It is found by arranging the set of data from

lowest or highest (or highest to lowest) and
getting the value of the middle observation
 It is not affected by the extreme small or large
values.
 Median
 The midpoint of the data array
Note: Data Array is a data set arranged in order.
 If n is odd, the median is the middle
ranked
 If n is even, then the median is the
average of the two middle ranked
values
n1
Median (Rank Value)  th
2
 Example of Median

Find the median of the ages of 9 middle-

management employees of a certain
company. The ages are 53, 45, 59, 48, 54,
46, 51, 58, and 55.

Solution:

Step 1: Arranged the data set in order.

45, 46, 48, 51, 53, 54, 55, 58, 59
 Example of Median
Step 2: Select the middle rank.
n  1 9  1 10
Median (Rank Value)    5
2 2 2

Step 3: Identify the median in the data set.

45, 46, 48, 51, 53, 54, 55, 58, 59

5th
Hence, the median age is 53 years.
 Mode

 The value in a data set that appears

most frequently

 A data may not contain any mode if

none of the values is most typical.
Unimodal  With 1 mode
Bimodal  With 2 modes
Multimodal  With more than 2 modes

No mode  Without mode

 Properties of Mode

 It is found by locating the most frequently

occurring value

 the easiest average to compute

 There can be more than one mode or even no

mode in any given data set
 Example of Mode
The following data represent the total sales for PSP
2000 from a sample of 10 Gaming Centers for the
month of August: 15, 17, 10, 12, 13, 10, 14, 10, 8,
and 9. Find the mode.

Solution:
The ordered array for these data is

8, 9, 10, 10, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17

Lowest to
Highest
Therefore the mode is 10.
 Properties of
Midrange

 It is easy to compute.

 It gives the midpoint.

 It is unique.

 It is affected by the extreme small or large values.

 Midrange

 The average of the lowest and highest

value in a data set

Xlowest  Xhighest
Midrange 
2
 Example of Midrange
Find the midrange of the ages of 9 middle-
management employees of a certain company. The
ages are 53, 45, 59, 48, 54, 46, 51, 58, and 55.

Solution:

45, 46, 48, 51, 53, 54, 55, 58, 59

Xlowest  Xhighest 45  59 104

Midrange     52
2 2 2

The midrange age is 52.

 Choosing Appropriate Measure
of Central Tendency

I have learnt four kinds of averages to

reflect central tendency. May I use any
one of them for any situations?

No, each average has its characteristics.

Let’s see how to choose the most appropriate
averages for different cases.
MISUSES OF
AVERAGES
 Misuse of
Averages

Sometimes, people may misuse averages to mislead the

readers on purpose. Therefore, we should note the
following points carefully.

 whether the type of average used is appropriate,

 which data are involved in the calculation.

 Misuse of
Averages

 Whether the type of average used is appropriate

for example:

I got 60, 60, 42, 38, 31 marks in

5 tests. So, my average score is 60.

Harry

It is not reasonable to use the mode as Harry’s

average score. 60 is his highest score but his mean
score is only 46.2.
 Misuse of
Averages

 Which data are involved in the calculation

For example:
The members of a race team can finish 100 m race in
11.2 s, 12.4 s, 12.8 s, 13.6 s and 19.7 s respectively
(mean = 13.94 s).

After the slowest member left the team, the coach

claimed that:

Due to my supervision, the mean race time of

the team is changed from 13.94 s to 12.5 s. It’s
a significant improvement.
 Misuse of
Averages

 Which data are involved in the calculation

For example:
The members of a race team can finish 100 m race in
11.2 s, 12.4 s, 12.8 s, 13.6 s and 19.7 s respectively
(mean = 13.94 s).

After the slowest member left the club, the

coach claimed that:

Due coach’s
The to my supervision,
claim is notthe mean race
reasonable astime of
the numbers
themembers
of team is changed
involved from
in the13.94 s to 12.5
calculations s. not
are It’s the
a significant
same, improvement.
and their results are not comparable.
 Variance

Variance is the average squared deviation from the

mean of a set of data. It is used to find the standard
deviation.
 Variance

1. Find the mean of the data.

Hint – mean is the average so add up the
values and divide by the number of items.

2. Subtract the mean from each value – the

result is called the deviation from the mean.
3. Square each deviation of the mean.
4. Find the sum of the squares.
5. Divide the total by the number of items.
 Variance
Formula

The variance formula includes the summation

Notation,  , which represents the sum of all
the items to the right of summation.
 (x   ) 2

n
Mean is represented by  and n is
the number of items.
 Standard
Deviation

Standard Deviation shows the variation

in data. If the data is close together, the
standard deviation will be small. If the
data is spread out, the standard deviation
will be large.
Standard Deviation is often denoted by the lowercase
Greek letter sigma. 

 Standard
Deviation

Find the variance.

a) Find the mean of the data.
b) Subtract the mean from each value.
c) Square each deviation of the mean.
d) Find the sum of the squares.
e) Divide the total by the number of items.
Take the square root of the variance.
 Standard Deviation
Formula

The standard deviation formula can be

represented using Sigma Notation:

  ( x   ) 2

Notice the standard deviation formula is the

square root of the variance.
 Example of Variance
& Standard
Deviation

The math test scores of five students are:

92,88,80,68 and 52.

1) Find the mean: (92+88+80+68+52)/5 = 76.

2) Find the deviation from the mean:
92-76=16
88-76=12
80-76=4
68-76= -8
52-76= -24
 Example of Variance
& Standard
Deviation
3) Square the deviation from the
mean:
(16)  256
2

(12)  144
2

(4)  16
2

( 8)  64
2

(24)  576
2
 Example of Variance
& Standard
Deviation
4) Find the sum of the squares of the
deviation from the mean:
256+144+16+64+576= 1056
5) Divide by the number of data
items to find the variance:
1056/5 = 211.2
6) Find the square root of the
variance: 211.2  14.53
Thus the standard deviation of
the test scores is 14.53.